This mom is sharing the secret to co-parenting after divorce, and it's so simple

Mom Hayley Booth wrote an emotional post about how she co-parents her daughter. (Photo: Hayley Booth/Facebook)

Divorce can be a messy situation, especially when kids are involved. But one mom is making it look effortless — and she’s sharing her secret on social media.

Hayley Booth penned a Facebook post addressing how she co-parents her daughter with her ex-husband, his wife, and her current husband. The answer, she says, is simple.

“My answer is always the same — We just love our daughter,” she writes. “We all love her, and nothing will ever change that. No child deserves to be tossed around back and forth, used as a bargaining chip, or to be put in the middle of any adult drama. She didn’t choose to be born, and she certainly never chose for her parents to get divorced.”

Booth accompanies her post with a heartwarming picture of her and her daughter’s “bonus mommy” walking their kid to class on her first day of school. She also touches on how they tackle the parental politics of having a second mommy.

“My daughter calls her bonus mommy ‘Mommy.…’ And you know what? That’s OK, because that’s what she is to her, she is her mommy. She is there for her always, she takes care of her, she plays with her, she teaches her life lessons and how she should behave, she gives her hugs and kisses goodnight, she does everything any mother would do. But most of all she loves her like she is her own. It takes a very special woman to take a child that they didn’t give birth to, under their wing and become their mother.”

To any parents trying to co-parent a child, Booth advises to “put the petty little things aside” and focus on your child and what’s best for him or her.

“Why would we make her life harder by making her choose which set of parents to love? If you are lucky enough for your ex to have a woman who loves your child or children like their own, and one who helps raise them and shape them, why would you not allow them to call a woman they love Mommy?” she writes. “My daughter isn’t the only one who loves her bonus mommy; I love her too. She’s become one of my best friends and I rely on her for many things. She is one of the strongest people I know, and I am thankful for her every day.”

Booth’s post struck a chord with other parents, receiving more than 15,000 likes and hundreds of comments.

“I totally agree! I raised my children the same way! Their father didn’t stay in their lives long. However, their bonus mom is still there and one of my dearest friends!” wrote one commenter.

“I love my daughter’s other mother. She has helped raise and support her in all things for half of her young life, our daughter will be 16,” shared another.

Booth rounds off her post saying, “It takes a village to raise a child, and I am beyond thankful for my village!”